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Talking Horses: Aablan can enhance Appleby record in Solario at Sandown

The trainer has saddled two Solario winners in the last six runnings, including Masar, the 2018 Derby winnerCharlie Appleby’s stable is some way short of its title-winning form of the past two seasons in the current campaign, but there are still dozens of lightly-raced, blue-blooded juveniles at Moulton Paddocks and Aablan (3.38) is an interesting runner for the yard in the Group Three Solario Stakes at Sandown Park on Saturday.On paper, Aablan’s debut success in a seven-furlong maiden at Newmarket in late July gives him something to find with Mortlake, the likely favourite, who powered five lengths clear of his field to break his duck at the second attempt last time out. Continue reading...

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Talking Horses: Sheikh Mohammed’s unlimited wealth can’t buy success

The ruler of Dubai was still splashing the cash at the sales last week while his No 1 Godolphin trainer suffers a torrid timeIt is tough at the bottom, as Adam West pointed out after winning the Nunthorpe Stakes at York on Friday with Live In The Dream, his first runner at Group One level. “Quite simply, it’s not viable,” West said. “The BHA do their best but realistically, unless you are on the top, top scale, [training] is not a viable option. But that’s not why any of us do it, we do it because we love the animals and the sport.”But it can be tough at the summit as well, as Charlie Appleby, the reigning champion trainer on...

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Talking Horses: Live In The Dream off to Breeders’ Cup after giant-killing

Adam West pulls off shock for small stable in Nunthorpe Stakes with all-the-way winner now off to California showpieceIn a sport that is increasingly dominated, at the highest level at least, by billionaires and sovereign wealth, Live In The Dream’s 28-1 front-running victory in the Nunthorpe Stakes here on Friday was an uplifting reminder that even now, a small stable can sometimes land a significant blow.It also revealed that Adam West, who is now a Group One-winning trainer from his 46-horse stable in Epsom, has a gift for one-liners. “What were your thoughts during the race?”, West was asked afterwards. “I’m going to swallow my chewing gum,” he replied. Continue reading...

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Talking Horses: Heat needs to be turned down fast in sauna-gate

A solution must be found in the simmering dispute between racing’s rulers and jockeys over the removal of track saunasBattle lines have been drawn and trenches dug in the latest dispute between the British Horseracing Authority and Britain’s Flat jockeys, and the two sides seem set for a protracted struggle.At issue is the racecourse sauna, which was, for generations of riders, a daily point of call until Covid-19 prompted to their closure, as a measure to prevent spread of the virus when racing went behind closed doors. The Professional Jockeys’ Association insists that a majority of its members now want the saunas back, while the BHA is equally adamant that it is not going to happen. Continue reading...

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Talking Horses: Highfield Princess leads way for the mighty Quinn

The big-name trainers are all struggling to keep tabs on John Quinn, who sent out the popular winner of the King GeorgeJohn Gosden, Aidan O’Brien or perhaps Andrew Balding would have been the first names to spring to mind on Tuesday morning as likely winners of the trainers’ prize here this week. With just one day left on the south Downs, however, they are all struggling to keep tabs on John Quinn, who leads the way after the hugely popular Highfield Princess exploded away from her field in the Group Two King George Stakes here on Friday.Highfield Princess was only Quinn’s fourth runner at Glorious Goodwood this week, and provided his relatively small stable in Malton with a third winner,...

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